Tri-dimensional clamping device



Jan. 19, 1965 H. L. SEGO TRI-DIMENSIONAL CLAMPING DEVICE Filed Jan. 9. 1963 INVENTOR HAROLD L. SEGO ATTORNEY Ill 31 United States Patent 3,166,307 TRI-DMENSIONAL CLAMPING DEVICE Harold L. Sago, 8292 Dorinda Drive, Pleasure Ridge Park, Ky.

Filed Jan. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 250,441 3 Claims. (Cl. 263-155) This invention relates to improvements in tri-dimensional clamping devices.

More particularly, the invention relates to a tri-dimensional clamping device of the type utilizing a conventional C clamp comprising: (1) a rigid main C frame presenting major front and rear faces and including a mam bight and a pair of main jaws having base and outer end portions with their base end portions integral with the bight; (2) a main clamp screw threaded to the outer end portion of one jaw for screw movement across the mouth of the C toward and away from the outer end portion of the other jaw; and (3) a pair of opposed work engaging members in the mouth of the C, one fixed to the outer end portion of one jaw and the other carried by the adjacent end of the main clamping screw.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a third jaw, space it forwardly from the front face of a conventional C clamp and mount the base end of that jaw on the main bight of the C clamp so that it cooperates with the front face thereof to form another 0 clamp at right angles to the conventional C clamp.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved version of this third jaw type of tridimensional clamping device.

Another object is to provide a tri-dimensional clamping device which is inexpensive to make and which is durable, efficient and reliable in operation.

Another important object is to provide a tri-dimensional clamping device which permits the use of a relatively simple and inexpensively constructed third jaw.

Another important object is to provide a tri-dimensional clamp which permits the use of conventional C clamp and requires only the performance of relatively simple and inexpensive modifying operations on that G clamp to adapt it for use in a tri-dimensional device.

Substantially all of the foregoing objects are achieved by spacing the third jaw forwardly from the front face of the C clamp with the base end of the third jaw rotationally connected to the main bight of the C clamp for angular movement about an axis passing through the midportion of the main bight at a right angle to the major front face of the C clamp. With this arrangement, a conventional C clamp can be utilized simply by boring a front-to-rear hole through its bight and forming the third jaw with an auxiliary bight terminating in a trunnion which passes through that hole and projects from the back face of the C and which is held in place on the back face side of the C by a suitable nut or other form of stop. Where volume production permits or other conditions require, it is a relatively simple matter to form the conventional c clamp integrally with the auxiliary bight and to mount the third jaw directly on the front end of that auxiliary bight for angular movement about its axis. Each of these embodiments involves relatively simple parts which are inexpensive to make and assemble and which are durable, efiicient and reliable in operation. Furthermore, the third jaw can be rotationally moved to different angular clamping positions or to an out-of-the-way position or readily removed and replaced as required.

Embodiments of my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGS. 1-6 show one embodiment in which FIG. 1 is a top plan view,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation,

FIG. 3 is a front face elevation,

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section along line 44 of FIG. 3 showing, in dotted lines, an assembly of clamped parts forming an inverted T.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section along line 5-5 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section, corresponding to FIG. 5, but showing the adjusting spacers shifted from the left side of the main bight to the right side thereof;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of a modification in which the auxiliary bight constitutes a part separate from the third jaw; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views of another modification in which FIG. 8 is a front face elevational view of the midportion of the main bight and FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view at right angles to FIG. 8 showing the base end of a removably mounted third jaw in place.

The FIG. 16 embodiment illustrated in the drawing includes a conventional C clamp comprising: A. a rigid main C frame It presenting major front and rear faces and including a main bight 11, a pair of main jaws 12, 13, each having base and outer end portions with their base end portions integral with the bight 11; B. a main clamp screw 14 threaded to the outer end portion of one jaw 12 for screw movement across the mouth of the C toward and away from the outer end portion of the other jaw 13; and C. a pair of opposed main work-engaging members 15, 16, in the mouth of the C (see FIG. 4), the main member 15 being carried by the mouth end of the main clamping screw 14 on jaw 12 and the other main member 16 being located at the outer end portion of the other jaw 13 and suitably secured thereto.

In accordance with my invention, I provide: (A) another pair of work-engaging members 25, 25 on the front face side of the said main C frame 10, one such front Work-engaging member for each main jaw, each front member being located at the outer end portion of its jaw 12 or 13 as the case may be and suitably secured thereto; and (B) auxiliary means located on the front face side of the main C frame 10, mounted on the main bight 11 thereof and arranged to cooperate therewith to form an auxiliary C clamp of the C type. This auxiliary means includes: (1) an auxiliary jaw 30 having base and outer end portions and being spaced forwardly from said front face with its base end connected to said main bight 11 for angular movement about an axis A passing through the mid portion of the main bight at a right angle to said major front face, this angular movement extending over an angle corresponding to one formed between lines passing through said axis from opposite ends of the mouth of said main C clamp; (2) an auxiliary clamping screw 34 threaded to the outer end portion of the auxiliary jaw 30 for screw movement toward and away from said front face; and (3) a workengaging member 35 carried by the front face end of the auxiliary screw 34 for angular and lineal movement including (a) angular movement (with both said auxiliary screw 34 and said auxiliary jaw 30) over a range of positions including one position in which it opposes the work-engaging member 25 on the outer front face end portion of one main jaw 12 and another angu-larly spaced position in which it opposes the work-engaging member 26 on the outer front face end portion of the other main jaw 13, and (b) lineal movement (with said auxiliary screw 34 but relative to said auxiliary jaw 39) in a direction proceeding toward and away from said front face.

. The base end of the auxiliary jaw 30 is preferably integrally formed with an auxiliary bight 31 which extends toward the main bight 11 and which terminates in a trunnion or stub shaft 32. As readily seen in FIGS. 5-6, the mid portion of the main bight 11 is bored at sne sor right angles to'the front face thereof to receive the trunnion 32 with the rear end of the trunnion projecting rearwardly from the' rear face of the main bight 11 and being held thereon in any suitable way as by 'nut 33 threaded to the rear projecting end of trunnion 32.

a 'With this FIG. 16 arrangement, it will be readily appreciated that auxiliary jaw 30 with its integral auxiliary bight 31 and trunnion 32 constitutes a simply and sturdily constructed part which is inexpensive to make and assemble. Furthermore, it may be used in combination with a conventional C clamp requiring only that the mid portion of the bight of the C clamp be bored to receive the trunnion 32. As a consequence, the construction thus far explained, is inexpensive to make and easy to assemble into a durable, efficient and reliable tridimensional clamping device wherein the auxiliary jaw 3 and screw 34 are mounted for angular movement over a range of positions including one position in which it opposes the one front work-engaging member 26, another angularly spaced position in which it opposes the other front work-engaging member 25, an infinite number of angularly spaced positions between those two positions and an infinite number of out-of-the-way positions along the remainder of circle C of FIG. 3.

With the FIG. 5 arrangement, the screw 34 may be long enough to enable its work-engaging member 35 to be screwed up to the front face of the main C clamp in each of the lower clamping position of screw 34. In other words, the front clamping space may be varied from a maximum value corresponding to the maximum spacing obtainable to a zero minimum value. The maximum spacing between the work-engaging member 35 of the screw and the front face of the C clamp may be increased by shifting one or more spacers 37 on trunnion 32 from the rear side of the bight 11 shown in FIG. 5 to the front side thereof as shown in FIG. 6. With the longer screws 34, the work-engaging member 35 of the screw may still be screwed inwardly to the front face of the main 0 clamp. With the shorter screws 34, the minimum inward position of the work-engaging member 35 will shift forwardly away from the front face member as more and more spacers 37 are shifted to the front side of the main bight.

It will be noted that, in the FIG. 1-6 embodiment,

the main bight 11 preferably is provided with integral bosses 38 on the rear side and 39 on the front side to reinforce the bight at the point where it is weakened by the opening made to receive trunnion 32. In the FIG. 7 embodiment, the front face boss 39 may be enlarged to form the auxiliary bight 131 and the front face end of the latter may be integrally provided with trunnion 132 threaded to receive bolt 133 and dimensioned to receive auxiliary jaw 130, and, if desired, an adjusting spacer 137,. Preferably, however, the auxiliary bight 131 is made in the form of an elongate hollow sleeve and arranged to receive a trunnion 132 in the form of an elongate bolt which passes entirely through the assembly so a to project rearwardly from rear boss 38 and forwardly from spacer 137. This elongate projecting trunnion 132 is retained in place by the front nut 133 and a rear nut 133A.

With the preferred FIG. 7 arrangement, when the use of the auxiliary clamp is not desired, the bight 131 and other auxiliary parts can be removed to avoid obstructing any part of the front face of the main 6 clamp.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 1-6 and of FIG. 7 the assembly and disassembly requires the threading or unthreading of one or more nuts such as nut 33 in the FIG. 1-6 embodiment and 133 in the FIG. 7 embodiment. To render the assembly and disassembly more easily and rapidly performed, the embodiment of FIGS. 8-9 is provided.

In the FIG. 8-9 embodiment, a modified trunnion 232 is provided at therear end of the auxiliary bight 31. The modified trunnion 232 may bean integral part of the bight 31 or otherwise rigidly secured thereto. Its rear end, however, i enlarged to provide an integral latching key, preferably of rectangular cross section. Accordingly, the bore wall, of the trunnion receiving opening in the mid portion of the main bight 11, is slotted at 233A to receive the key 233 and permit its passage back and forth through the bight 11 when the jaw 30 is inverted so that it projects upwardly rather than downward-1y. Thus, by turning the jaw 36 upside down, the trunnion 232 (and its key 233) can be passed through the trunnion receiving opening (and its key'way 233A) until the key 233 clears the rear end of the rear boss 38. Then the jaw 30 is turned angularly to its downwardly depending position wherein the key 233 prevents the removal of the auxiliary jaw from the main C clamp but permits its angular movement over a wide range of angularly spaced positions.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my pending application SIN-105,105, filed April 24, 1961.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An improvement in a tri-dimensional clamping device of the type utilizing a C clamp having a rigid main C frame presenting a major front face and including a main bight, a pair of main jaws having base and outer end portions with their base end portions integral with the bight, a main clamp screw threaded to the outer end portion of one jaw for screw movement across the mouth of the 0 toward and away from the outer end portion of the other jaw, and a pair of opposed work-engaging members in the mouth of the C, one fixed to the outer end portion of one jaw and the other carried. by the adjacent end of said main clamping screw, comprising:

(A) auxiliary means located on the front face side of the main 6 frame, mounted on the bight thereof and arranged to cooperate therewith to form an auxiliary clamp of the C type,

(1) said auxiliary means including (a) an auxiliary jaw having base and outer end portions and being spaced forwardly from said front face with its base end connected to said main bight for angular movement (i) about an axis passing through the main C clamp adjacent the mid portion of its bight at a right angle to said major front face and (ii) extending over an angle corresponding to one formed between lines passing through said axis from opposite ends of the mouth of said main 0 clamp,

(b) an auxiliary clamping screw threaded to the outer end portion of said auxiliary jaw for screw movement toward and away from said front face, and

(c) an auxiliary work-engaging member carried by the front faceend of said auxiliary screw for angular movement with said auxiliary screw and jaw over a range of clamping positions included in said angle and for lineal movement with said auxiliary screw and relative to said auxiliary jaw in a direction proceeding toward and away from said front face.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein:

( A) said angular movement connection between said main bight part and said auxiliaiy jaw part includes a trunnion receiving opening on at least one part and a trunnion interconnecting both parts, said open-- ing and trunnion being centered on said axis;

(B) said trunnion integrally carries a latching key at one end;

(C) saidtrunnion receiving opening is slotted to provide a key Way to permit the passage of the trunnion and latching key through the trunnion receiving opening; and

(D) said latching key is operative, when the trunnion V is inserted into and passed through said opening and then rotated to offset the latching key from said key way, to latch the auxiliary parts to the main C clamp.

3. A tri-dimensional clamping device comprising:

(A) a C clamp having (1) a rigid main 0 frame (a) presenting a major front face and (b) including a main bight and a pair of main jaws having base and outer end portions with their base end portions integral with the bight, (2) a main clamp screw threaded to the outer end portion of one jaw for screw movement across the mouth of the 0 toward and away from the outer end portion of the other jaw, and (3) a pair of opposed work-engaging members in the mouth of the C,

'(a) one fixed to the outer end portion of said other jaw and (b) the other carried by the adjacent end of said main clamping screw;

(B) another pair of work-engaging members on the front face side of said main C frame, one for each main jaw, each fixed to the outer end portion of its jaw; and r (C) auxiliary means located on the front face side of the main 0 frame, mounted on the bight thereof and arranged to cooperate therewith to form an auxiliary clamp of the C type,

(1) said auxiliary means including (a) an auxiliary jaw having base and outer end portions, said auxiliary jaw being spaced forwardly from said front face with 1 its base end connected to said main bight for angular movement (i) about an axis passing through the mid portion of the bight at a right angle to said major front face and (ii) extending over an angle corresponding to one formed between lines passing through said axis from opposite ends of the mouth of said main C clamp,

(b) an auxiliary clamping screw threaded to the outer end portion of said auxiliary jaw for screw movement toward and away from saidfront face, and

(c) an auxiliary work-engaging member car- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Nies Mar. 30, 1886 Hamilton Sept. 18, 1951 OConnor Aug. 12, 1952 Romine Sept. 16, 1952 Hewat June 23, 1953 

1. AN IMPROVEMENT IN A TRI-DIMENSIONAL CLAMPING DEVICE OF THE TYPE UTILIZING A C CLAMP HAVING A RIGID MAIN C FRAME PRESENTING A MAJOR FRONT FACE AND INCLUDING A MAIN BIGHT, A PAIR OF MAIN JAWS HAVING BASE AND OUTER END PORTIONS WITH THEIR BASE END PORTIONS INTEGRAL WITH THE BIGHT, A MAIN CLAMP SCREW THREADED TO THE OUTER END PORTION OF ONE JAW FOR SCREW MOVEMENT ACROSS THE MOUTH OF THE C TOWARD AND AWAY FROM THE OUTER END PORTION OF THE OTHER JAW, AND A PAIR OF OPPOSED WORK-ENGAGING MEMBERS IN THE MOUTH OF THE C, ONE FIXED TO THE OUTER END PORTION OF ONE JAW AND THE OTHER CARRIED BY THE ADJACENT END OF SAID MAIN CLAMPING SCREW, COMPRISING: (A) AUXILIARY MEANS LOCATED ON THE FRONT FACE SIDE OF THE MAIN C FRAME, MOUNTED ON THE BIGHT THEREOF AND ARRANGED TO COOPERATE THEREWITH TO FORM AN AUXILIARY CLAMP OF THE C TYPE, (1) SAID AUXILIARY MEANS INCLUDING (A) AN AUXILIARY JAW HAVING BASE AND OUTER END PORTIONS AND BEING SPACED FORWARDLY FROM SAID FRONT FACE WITH ITS BASE END CONNECTED TO SAID MAIN BIGHT FOR ANGULAR MOVEMENT (I) ABOUT AN AXIS PASSING THROUGH THE MAIN C CLAMP ADJACENT THE MID PORTION OF ITS BIGHT AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO SAID MAJOR FRONT FACE AND (II) EXTENDING OVER AN ANGLE CORRESPONDING TO ONE FORMED BETWEEN LINES PASSING THROUGH SAID AXIS FROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE MOUTH OF SAID MAIN C CLAMP, (B) AN AUXILIARY CLAMPING SCREW THREADED TO THE OUTER END PORTION OF SAID AUXILIARY JAW FOR SCREW MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID FRONT FACE, AND (C) AUXILIARY WORK-ENGAGING MEMBER CARRIED BY THE FRONT FACE END OF SAID AUXILIARY SCREW FOR ANGULAR MOVEMENT WITH SAID AUXILIARY SCREW AND JAW OVER A RANGE OF CLAMPING POSITIONS INCLUDED IN SAID ANGLE AND FOR LINEAL MOVEMENT WITH SAID AUXILIARY SCREW AND RELATIVE TO SAID AUXILIARY JAW IN A DIRECTION PROCEEDING TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID FRONT FACE. 